Hook and Dagger
by ferociousbeast
Summary: A short story about trust, love, magic, and dangerous situations. Set after "Tallahassee". Comments, reviews and suggestions appreciated and considered. Killian Jones / Captain Hook - Emma Swan
1. Chapter 1

The night was endless. No sleep came, partly because her head was trapped in a carousel of worries about her son Henry, and partly because her heart ached with guilt and led her to Captain Hook, his eyes unbelieving as she clasped the shackle shut around his wrist and backed away.

_But I had to do it, _she thought. _He couldn't be trusted. I have to protect my family._ And that snarling snare of a thought came back to her, as it had for many weeks now. _The reason everything went wrong was because I trusted someone._

"You okay?" Emma turned sharply, caught off guard by the slight figure of her mother, Snow White.

"Yeah I'm just uh...thinking." She dug the heels of her boots into the soil and waited for what was certainly coming.

"You should get some rest, you haven't slept-" Snow moved closer to Emma, her hands held together as if in prayer.

"I know!" Emma barked it, her eyes flashing for a second before widening in surprise at herself. "I'm sorry. I'd like to sleep, but I can't. My..._brain_ won't let me." She sighed deeply and continued her unseeing stare into the thick impenetrable night.

"Why don't you talk to me about it?" Snow deposited herself lightly beside her daughter and smiled kindly. Emma gazed at her and shook her head, bereft of the strength to speak her truth. Snow tucked a blonde lock of hair behind Emma's ear and whispered, "It's ok, Emma. You talked to me about things before. You know, before you knew I was your mom."

"I know." Emma felt for Snow. She understood her mother's concern, for it was the same she felt when Henry was worried or upset. But it didn't make the situation any less absurd or awkward. But talking about Henry would be alright. She could do that and get some of that off her chest, and Snow would understand. But that left Hook, prowling around her mind and heart, screaming her name in anger, hurt.

"Was it something Hook said?"

"What?" Emma felt her heart contract and expand with every beat. It felt like being simultaneously crushed and levitated. _How does she know?_

"Well you've been unable to sleep ever since you came down from the beanstalk. And I don't think you've told us the whole story about what happened up there-" Snow began.

"I told you! Hook distracted the giant, I hit him in the face with that magic sleeping powder stuff, we looked for the compass, couldn't find it, the giant woke up, threw some boulders at Hook, grabbed me, and I talked to him, convinced him to give me the compass, and I left. The end." She tossed up her hands in exasperation.

"Hmm...No, that's not all there is. I'm your mother Emma. And I know that the face you're making right now is not a truth face."

Emma crossed her arms and glared at Snow.. She had, without thinking about it, begun to pace around the small clearing.

After a few seconds of this she stopped and turned to her mother.

"Fine. Here's how the story really ends." Under the bright light of the stars, Emma saw Snow's small nod and patient gaze.

"I asked the giant a second favor..."


	2. Chapter 2

When Emma finished, she at last felt drained of some of the tension, the restlessness that had been devouring her. With a soft thump she rejoined Snow on the log, her shoulders sagging as she thought adoringly of a hot shower with a variety of brightly colored sponges.

Snow dissolved this misty day dream with a statement, startling in its abruptness and sincerity. "I understand, Emma." They looked at each other, two faces very different but alike, and Snow reached for Emma's hand, grasping her fingers warmly, a look of determination about her face.

"But I think...I think we should wait for him, or go back-" Emma stood up so fast the world seemed to jolt and sway on its axis. She stumbled slightly before fixing Snow with a fiery glare. She wasn't sure why the thought of waiting for him, or rescuing him, was so repugnant, all she knew was the cold betrayal that ached in her bones.

"Why would we do that?"

"Because you need me." He emerged from behind the bulky oak Emma had spent so long staring at, no hint of a smile on his lips. The two women regarded him silently for a moment, and in turn, each rose and withdrew their weapons.

"Oh no. This is not how we're going to play the game this time. I helped you, you locked me up at the top of a giant's beanstalk. If we're going to continue this journey together, I'll not be your captive."

"And who says we're going to finish this together?" Emma steadied her sword so that it gently nudged the uppermost button on his jacket.

She felt a small hand on her arm and found Snow leading her several feet away,

"Emma, we need him to get to Cora-"

"But-"

"I know you really don't want him to come along, and neither do I. But we must. To get back to Storybrooke. To David and Henry. I know you would do whatever it takes. And there'll be four very strong and capable women keeping their eyes on him. He's not going to get away with anything." Emma said nothing. Everything her mother said was logical, and true. She racked her brains for an excuse, but could find nothing.

"Emma..." the sound was so soft. "What are you afraid of?"

_I'm afraid of the way I almost had a heart attack when I thought Kilian had been crushed to death underneath the giant. I'm scared of the way my heart raced and my mind went blank when he held me close to him. Even though he was an ass about it. And I'm afraid that being around him is bad for me. He's a pirate. A thief. Like me. And we can't be trusted._

"Nothing." Emma lied. "Fine. He'll come with us." She turned back to him, still standing by the tree.

"You're not our prisoner, Hook." He approached, a sly smile finally emerging on his lips. Emma sighed. He wasn't going to make anything easy. "But don't expect us to trust you."

He frowned and cocked his head to the side. "'Us'? Or you?" His eyes burned into hers, knowing. She felt suddenly naked, uncomfortable as hell.

Snow quickly got between them, and, her face only inches from his, said "Us."


	3. Chapter 3

The days passed smoothly as the party of five moved west, where Killian said Cora was waiting for him. The four women took it in pairs to stand in front of and behind the pirate as they traveled. Emma made it a point to take the back, after the first day garnered no less than fourty three comments about how nice her ass looked. Although even standing behind him earned cries of, "You love watching me saunter through the hillside, don't you?" or "My trousers feel hot...Emma stop staring!".

On the fifth day, it rained. Hard. They were by the coast, on a long stretch of rocky beach Killian apparently knew "like the curve of his hook".

"Come! I know a place to hide and stay warm!" He shouted over the gales. As the grey walls of icy water shot down, they scrambled through the sea, the waves crashing over their heads and filling their eyes, ears, mouths.

Snow linked hands with Emma and Mulan. Mulan grabbed onto Aurora. And Killian, seeing that the women were all staying together, extended his own hand to Emma.

She didn't take it. "I don't want to lose you!" He shouted. As the weight of her companions physically tugged at her, she reconsidered. Although she tried to block the thought, when her hand slid into his, and he held it and led her through the water, constantly looking back to make sure they were all there, she thought,

_I'm glad._

After fifteen minutes of strenuous swimming and much swearing, he led them onto a dark shore, roofed by the cliff above them.

"A secret pirate cave?" Emma joked.

"Yes." Killian lit several dusty torches nailed to the stone walls and the women gasped. The ceiling was covered in what looked like red velvet and the walls filled with delicate paintings that were obviously worth quite a lot of money in their day, but which now hung warped and faded.

At the back of the cave sat much furniture and netting, near the front, a tattered rowboat with a faded name painted on it's side. "Silas".

Killian was browsing through a pile of wooden chairs in the corner, apparently taking great care in what he was about to choose. "Ah!" He pulled a half dozen broken chair legs from the mass, his grin wide. Snow nodded and began rifling through her sack.

"I don't get it." Emma turned to them, as they now seemed to be working together. Mulan and Aurora toured the cave suspiciously.

"What makes you hot love?" He smiled up at her as he arranged the chair legs into a teepee shape.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." He rose and withdrew a small ball of fluffy cotton-like material front the front pocket of his jacket. "The correct answer was 'fire'". He withdrew his knife, scraped it against his hook, and clapped his hand against his leg when the spark took to the ball of fluff and then to the splintered bits of wood.

"Now we shan't freeze tonight." He added cheerfully. Snow smiled softly and wandered over to Aurora. Mulan was checking the rowboat for holes and gaps. Killian seized the moment.

"There's something I want to show you, later, when the others are asleep. It's not a trick. I just want you to be prepared. I can't tell the others. They'll panic." And it was at that moment the three other woman rejoined the couple.

"So!" Killian said loudly. "Who likes fish?"


	4. Chapter 4

Emma had offered to take the watch. After all, she had been sleeping soundly since the return of Captain Killian Jones. And she hated that fact.

She sat by the babbling fire, now sputtering and hissing at a patient tide, and she thought about Henry. She thought about the sound of his voice, and how she wanted nothing more than to hear it again. Every day. Until he was too old to think she was cool. Until...he left her too.

The sigh came from way down deep. At the very end of it came a small sad noise, almost like a whimper, but stranger, more afraid. Emma hoped that not one of the four sleeping people on the floor heard it, that none would stir. None did.

She gazed at them. Mulan, even in sleep, kept her hand on the hilt of her sword, one ear always facing upward, exposed, alert. Beside her, Aurora tossed restlessly from side to side, murmuring indistinctly before quieting down again for several minutes. And beside her, Snow. She slept unlike the rest of them. On her back, arms at her side, like a soldier. And, Emma thought, that's what she is.

A hero.

But beside that hero lay a not so virtuous man. And as she spied him warily, growing more anxious about the strange message he confided in her earlier, she found herself wondering about his childhood. After all, he wasn't born a pirate. What was he like when he was Henry's age? Why did he become a pirate? Who was Milah? Above all, some of it had to do with Mr. Gold. Rumple.

She was so lost in thought, she didn't notice Killian's eyes had opened, and were now trained on her, shining with delight as he waited to catch her.

"Should I let you continue to stare at me, or shall we go now?" He whispered, sitting up in one smooth, quick motion. Emma gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes darting toward the others. They continued to slumber undisturbed.

Killian got up and walked to the back of the cave. He stood beside an upended table stood against the very back wall of the cave. His look said, "Well, are you coming...?" so she followed him. "What are you doing?" She demanded, ready to fight. But he was calm, serious. It made her nervous.

"I'm sharing a secret with you. For my sake, and for yours." And he reached out to the table, which, Emma now noticed, had a brass knob in it's center. Killian twisted and pulled, and half of the table swung away, revealing a black hole of nothingness. "Eh- hold on." Killian yanked a torch from it's stand and lit it. Holding it out into the darkness, Emma could see it was a staricase, winding up into the cliff. Killian turned and looked at Emma. And uncontrollable smile crept across his face.

"Not afraid of the dark are you?"

Emma snatched her own torch and led the way up the stairs, adding as she passed him, "You better tell me what the hell I'm doing."

He said nothing for the first minute they climbed.

"Well?" Emma was impatient. She was leaving behind her mother and her new companions with someone she didn't trust. Something felt wrong.

"Well what?" Killian retorted.

"Don't do that." Emma stopped climbing, her palm flat and steadying against the rough hewn wall. "There was something you wanted to show me, and something you wanted to tell me. What's up?"

"We need to keep walking, we don't have much time. I'll talk as we walk. Good?" And he continued to ascend the stone steps.

"Cora wanted me to bring you to her Emma." Emma wanted to pause, but knew that he would be unlikely to wait for her again, and did not want to be left behind.

"What?" She suddenly realized how easily she could be walking into a trap right now. Or leaving her friends to die! But then why would he be telling her this...

"I don't know why she wants you in particular, but when she opens that portal, I don't think it's going to be me she''s taking with her." He confided.

"Why are you telling me this?" She was breathless. The oxygen seemed to be growing thinner the more they climbed, and she felt confused and fearful.

"Because I want to trick her, Emma. I want to tell you what she's planning, and you can't tell the other three, I need them to really think their lives are in danger. Otherwise I don't think it would work."

"But you're telling me."

"Yes." He stopped and turned to look at her.

"Why?"

She tried to x-ray his motives with her eyes, boring into him and hoping to find instant answers. Killian wiped sweat from his brow, and murmured, "We're nearly there."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Emma repeated.

"Why do _you _think I am?" He drew close to her, the warmth of his body mingling with hers, the two flames or their torches just barely touching, growing tall and white. She gazed this time with wonder. She wanted to fill the space between them, was torn between wanting to slap him or kiss him.

She opted for somewhere in-between. "I don't know." She had wanted it to come out confident but her voice shook, was soft and unsure.

He tsked and headed back up the stairs, and as his light began to vanish from the damp walls, she heard him say, "Guess again Miss Swan."


End file.
